Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The Devereux Center for Resilient Children works to promote the social and emotional well-being of all children by building resilience, using strengths-based approach and strong partnerships between families, teachers, and others who work with young children. DCRC’s Mission is to promote social and emotional development, foster resilience and build skills for school and life success in children birth through school-age, as well as to promote the resilience of the adults who care for them. Comprised of education, mental health, and research professionals, the DCRC team develops strength-based assessment and strategy resources supported by some of the best and most thorough developmental research in the fields of social and emotional development and resilience.

Devereux’s focus on primary prevention and promoting children’s resilience began in 1996 with the founding of the Devereux Early Childhood Initiative. After nearly 75 years of providing behavioral health, rehabilitation, and special education services to individuals with special needs, Devereux directed its attention to the emerging understanding of the preventable nature of some emotional and behavioral problems. Initially focusing on preschool children and a few years later expanding the scope to include infants and toddlers, to date the Devereux Early Childhood Initiative has reached over 3 million children.
Though I think this would be a great organization to be involved with, I was unable to locate job openings with DCRC.

www.centerforresilientchildren.org

	HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan is an independent, private, nonprofit research, development, training, and public outreach organization. HighScope serves a national and international audience committed to promoting high-quality early education for young children. HighScope is a diverse organization of approximately 50 professional educators, researchers, publishing staff, and administrative staff. A small demonstration preschool with two teachers provides an opportunity to observe implementation of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum. HighScope-trained independent Field Consultants implement training throughout the country. There were two positions posted on the website were for two part-year teachers. The job requires a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from an accredited college or university in early childhood education or a BA and coursework equivalent to a major relating to Early Childhood Education with experience teaching preschool age children. I would be more interested in a field consultant position, however, I could not find the qualifications for the position. www.highscope.org Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is the nation’s leading organization advancing the development of academic, social and emotional competence for all students. CASEL’s mission is to help make evidence-based social and emotional learning an integral part of education from preschool through high school. Through research, practice and policy, CASEL collaborates to ensure all students become knowledgeable, responsible, caring and contributing members of society. CASEL is currently seeking qualified applicants for the position of Development Coordinator. Qualifications and experience for the position are: CASEL seeks an individual who is highly motivated and committed to CASEL’s mission. The ideal candidate will have the following experience, expertise and skills: *Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; with one to two years of related experience. *Experience in fundraising, logistical coordination and project management for high visibility activities is preferred. *Must be well organized, detail oriented, able to prioritize and possess strong analytical skills. *Database management experience. *Knowledge of the prospect and donor management process including research vehicles. *Ability to gather data, analyze information and prepare reports. *Ability to foster effective working relationships within a team environment. *Strong interpersonal skills, as well as demonstrated proficiency in writing and verbal communication skills. *Outstanding customer service skills. The desire to work in a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial environment where taking initiative, working well in teams of internal and external colleagues, and perseverance in the face of challenges is a must. www.casel.org

Though I think this position could be fun and interesting for a period of time, I think I would prefer to be more involved and hands-on work with children and adults researching and helping to transform schools to ensure children receive the support needed to be successful in school and in life.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

 As I sit and daydream about what I would do if I had the opportunity to do anything in life, I am drawn to helping children. The more I learn and the more I see in life, the more I realize I was destined to help children. Before I entered the ECE field I was preparing to go to work for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). I had been a volunteer for many years when the Executive Director asked me to come aboard as a casework manager. It was about that time that I needed care for my two year old twins and could not find quality care. I opted to enter the ECE field instead. CASA is a wonderful organization that speaks up and advocates for abused and neglected children. I could easily find myself working as a casework manager if I was not working in the ECE field. I continue to volunteer and serve on the board, which gives me the best of both worlds. I can continue to help abused and neglected children through advocacy at the same time as I help young children develop and grow in the early childhood education field.

Our program collaborates with an organization called Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). ECI is a statewide program for families with children, birth to three, with disabilities and developmental delays. Basically, if we see a need for ECI we make a referral to the parents who then contact ECI and schedule an appointment. ECI first sees the child in their home, then any future visits can be conducted in our center. ECI has several positions in their program. However, the position which holds my interest is that of an Early Intervention Specialists (EIS). I could do this on a contract basis and still continue working in the early care and education field. ECI has created its own credentialing system. Early Intervention Specialists earn their credential by completing specific training activities on their Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP). Once all of the training activities on the IPDP are completed, an EIS is awarded a certificate declaring his/her status as an EIS Professional. EISs must obtain 10 contact hours of Continuing Professional Education each year in order to maintain their credential. EISs must also complete 3 hours of ethics training every two years in addition to the 10 hours of CPE. ECI employees or contract personnel are eligible to become an EIS with at least a bachelor’s degree in one many related areas such as child development, family studies and sociology (and many more). This is something I could begin working on rather quickly.

http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/careers.shtml

I have also explored the option of teaching at the local Community College in my town.  Hill College has a “Johnson County Campus” just five minutes from our program.  According to the website there are various adjunct instructor positions available. Candidates must hold a Master's degree with at least 18 graduate hours in the teaching discipline. Additionally, candidates should have the knowledge base on how to teach via new instructional formats (internet, 2-way video, etc.) or be willing to receive training on new formats. I don’t have the 18 graduate hours in the teaching discipline, but I would be willing to take the necessary classes to fulfill the requirements. The early childhood education instructor will be retiring next year and I would love the opportunity to teach classes at this campus.

www.hillcollege.edu/employment

 

If I were willing to move out of Texas I would apply for a position at the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Learning (CSEFL) at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The website does not have an employment link for CSEFL. Job listings are plentiful, but they are all for Vanderbilt University. I searched through pages of job openings, but could not distinguish if any were for the CSEFL. I have a passion for learning more about social-emotional development and what better place to learn and put into practice what I have learned!!

 http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/search.html

 

Finally,  I would like to become a trainer for the early childhood education field. I have taken steps to make this a reality. I have applied and have been accepted by the Texas Training Registry to conduct trainings for the early childhood field. At this point I have only conducted one training since being accepted, as my schedule has been completely hectic lately. But once I have completed my coursework through Walden University I intend to write and conduct trainings more frequently.

If the sky were the limit and I could do anything my heart desired, I would still work to help children.

 

My Early Childhood Wordle